Burning Bridges

The Freedom to Choose

When Natsu woke up, the sun was already shining. He felt oddly cold despite the covers wrapped around him. He also felt like he had been in a fight. He sensed a potent drain on his magic.

"What happened?" he grumbled.

He heard someone pounding on the door and groaned from weariness.

"Happy, go answer it," he mumbled.

No one replied. Natsu ignored the second knock and covered his head with the blankets to block all noises. Suddenly, someone kicked the door open, and a pair of heavy boots marched into the bedroom.

"Gray, you bastard! Why are you hiding in here?"

Natsu hummed. Was someone else angry at the stripper? Whose voice was that? The blankets muted it a bit. Why were they looking for Gray at his and Happy's house?

Suddenly, his blankets were yanked away. Natsu flinched at the bright light in his eyes, then he looked up to see a furious scowl on Erza's face.

"What...? Natsu?" she asked in shock. "What are you doing in Gray's bed?"

"Gray's bed?" He looked around. This was definitely not his home. "How did I...?"

Memories of the night before crashed into his brain. He flinched, his blood ran cold from the recollection of those icy touches, and he suddenly found even breathing to be difficult. His mind felt suddenly blank, yet his thoughts were racing. Memories came unwanted to him...humiliating memories. He had been raped, and by Gray of all people!

"Where's Gray?" demanded Erza.

"What?" he cried out in a slight panic. "I...I dunno." Natsu felt overwhelmed with flashes of scenes, sensations, cold fingers touching him, Gray's straining face...he was completely unable to think in the present.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

Natsu flinched again. "It was...last night, maybe?"

"Was he here?"

"Y-yeah," he muttered. Here, in this bed...with him. His stomach lurched and his heart began to race. "Why? Are you...angry with him?" Does she know? No one in the guild should know about what happened, right? Only if that bastard turned himself in, and he wouldn't do that.

"Gray left a note with Mira saying he's quitting the guild. She tried to run after him, but he was already gone. She sent word out, and people are already searching for him. I was hoping to find some clue here, but it looks like he packed his things. Did Gray say anything about leaving?"

Natsu shivered as he recalled the words. As soon as I'm done here, I'm on the first train out of Fiore.

"He said something about taking a train," Natsu said, trying to avoid saying too much, anything that might be suspicious.

Erza frowned. "A train, huh? I'll head to the station. If he bought a train ticket, we can figure out where he's heading. Get out of bed! Everyone is out looking for Gray, and as his teammate, you should be, too. Find your clothes and join Lucy's search party. And why the hell are you naked in Gray's bed? Does his house have a stripping germ in here?"

Natsu decided not to answer, and Erza left without waiting. He moved slowly, his ass burning, his shoulders sore from being restrained, his thighs stiff and bruised. He went into Gray's bathroom and took a long shower, trying to clean away the feeling of filth. As the hot water streamed over his pale face, tears mixed in.

"Damn you, Gray," he sniffled. "Why did you do this? Dammit!" He punched the wall and cracked the tiles while the shower washed away his tears.

When he was done, Natsu glanced into the foggy mirror while toweling his pink hair. He looked pale with dark circles under his eyes and some light bruising on his body. He wondered if he looked like he had just been raped. What did something like that even look like? For some reason, he did not want it to be obvious. He wanted to keep this a secret until he could find Gray and confront him personally.